


shower of rice

by mrslee19



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Library, Bambam is a nerd and also a fashion terror, Bambam is dramatic af, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-28 22:51:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18765910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrslee19/pseuds/mrslee19
Summary: From the "Worst friends ever" series: Bambam is dramatic





	shower of rice

**Author's Note:**

> I'm warning you guys there are grammar mistakes here and there. My beta is working on them. Also, I love writing dramatic!Bambam. It fits him.

Bambam isn’t an uncultured swine. He knows lots of stuff, thank you very much. So what if his knowledge comes from TV series, and his curiosity into looking up for new words he’s never heard of before from terms used in said TV series or blockbuster movies? Knowledge is still knowledge at the end of the day. And Jaebum doesn’t know what ‘inevitable’ means so he can suck it.

Still, when Youngjae drags—literally—his sorry ass out of the security and tranquility of his four walls room to the chaos that reigns outside only to bring him into the city’s library, he doesn’t protest. _Much_.

Because he’s not used to this kind of place, Bambam lowers the edge of his Ray-bans to peer around him.

So, books. Large amount of books.

“Huh, books,” he points out and realizes he’s being a tool a second later.

Youngjae, bless his heart for being too good (the only reason why Bambam didn’t put much resistance before), gives him a short nod before signing for him to follow. If it were either Jinyoung or, _yikes_ , Jaebum, they would have already took Bambam’s sunglasses off and smacked him with them.

They stop right behind the librarian or something—he doesn’t know and he doesn’t care, okay?—who’s arranging the sci-fi shelves because Youngjae needs help to find a book for one of his classes.

“You know that Michelin restaurant out of town?” His friend asks him after they heard the girl tell them to wait for her.

Bambam shoots him a questioning look. “What about it?”

“Jaebum said that he’ll buy us dinner there if I can make you come to the library for three weeks.”

Bambam stares intently. He squints his eyes. “ _You_ are betting on me?” He seethes in outrage, feeling utterly betrayed.

Youngjae, damn him, doesn’t flinch. Instead, he just smiles sweetly. “Yes,” he says, “I’m sure you can do it.”

Why all his friends are under the impression that he’s an idiot is something he’ll never get. For all the time he spends doing ‘nothing’, as they call it, and the lack of effort he puts in his studies, he should be considered a prodigy given that he hasn’t gotten a single mark under a B-.

If there’s anyone who needs this sort of intervention and tutors, that’s Yugyeom.

He still feels a bit—okay, no a lot, offended, but if it’s Jaebum’s loss on the table, he won’t back down. And Youngjae probably knows that if the glint in his eyes is any indication.

Bambam sniffs. “How are you going to prove that exactly?” He rocks on the heels of his feet and then spreads his arms. “You gonna take a picture or what?”

“No, better,” is Youngjae’s answer, but he takes his phone out and holds it as if he’s going to snap a picture.

Soon, they hear Jaebum’s voice boom, “aww, he looks like a fish out of his bowl,” and Bambam frowns at the device, flips Jaebum off because that’s the only appropriate response, and then decides to mooch around the building.

Action. Adventure. Fairy tale. Classic. Anthology. Horror. Crime. Fantasy.

He sashays from one aisle to another, tipping his glasses just to read some of the titles. He picks one book up that looks kind of interesting. Decides that he’ll look for it online, buy the eBook of it on Amazon, maybe, probably not, let’s see, and then onto to the next destination.

His wandering brings him to the kid’s section which actually has some stories he remembers from his childhood.

Bambam is checking a couple of Winnie-the-Pooh books when he sees _him_.

Or, better, he hears him first.

There’s someone talking, just in a normal tone, but it’s probably too high for a library which makes Bambam scowl. Then, his ears catch some giggles and he goes where the noises are coming from to see what’s happening.

And this is the moment.

This is where Bambam has to snatch his sunglasses off the bridge of his nose when his eyes land on the person sitting on a round small chair, reading a book to the kids and parents sitting on the carpet surrounding him.

Maybe it’s the shirt the guy’s wearing, a perfect fit, that accentuates shoulders and chest and the quite Dorito shaped back. The clothes are all black, very fashionable, black is an all season color, you can never go wrong with black. Or maybe it’s the handsome face and boyish hairstyle, or maybe it’s the low sexy chuckle that he emits when a child says something funny or the high-pitched laugh he explodes into when one of the parents makes a joke.

Bottom line is, Bambam thinks he is in love.

Which is the reason why when Youngjae finds him he’s—well, he’d argue that it’s not creepy to be watching the scene from the space provided by the two Winnie-the-pooh adventure books he had removed, but once in his room he’ll admit to himself that it is indeed, kind of creepy after all. Imagine if someone saw the face of this man in his early twenties looking in that direction. No, sorry, don't mind me, I'm _no_ creeper, I’m just checking out my fiancé, you know.

“What are you doing?” Youngjae asks him, alarmed.

“Shh!” Bambam says, putting a finger on his lips to silence the other. He motions towards the guy who’s still reading as if that’s enough explanation.

Youngjae’s eyebrows goes up to his hairline. “O—kay?” He says, but they both know damn well that he hasn’t understood what he was told.

Bambam huffs. He gestures for Youngjae to join him, and the latter does albeit with a weird expression on his face.

He and Youngjae have their faces pressed together, only an eye each to look. If it weren’t that he’s involved in this scenario, Bambam would have been cackling.

“Him reading the book to kids.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I’m going to marry him.”

Youngjae detaches himself from Bambam and turns his head towards him.

Bambam does the same so they’re basically facing each other within just an inch of distance between their noses.

“Guy who’s reading to kids?” Youngjae parrots. “Jackson? Since when do you know Jackson?”

“Since when do _you_ know Jackson?” Bambam retorts easily, folding his arms on his chest.

“I’ve been studying in this library for two years,” Youngjae states, “and Jackson was already a volunteer here and—”

“So my honeybear doesn’t even get paid for it?” Not only has his spouse looks, he’s also kind. Bambam couldn’t have chosen better, really.

If Youngjae’s disgusted by the nickname, he doesn’t show it. He just eyeballs Bambam a bit before coming to a conclusion. “You don’t know Jackson, do you?”

“I know that he’s Jackson and he’s perfect.”

Youngjae looks at him some more. He nods. “Alright.”

“Do you know more? Tell me, tell me.”

Youngjae stares. He shakes his head. “Nope, sorry,” he says popping the ‘p’, but the corner of his mouth is twitching in amusement.

Bambam would be suspicious, but there’s no time for that because there’s a round of applause which means reading time is over, so he has to rush to his spot.

He swears to God his heart grows a size bigger when he sees his boy be hugged by one of the little girls and him returning it.

Bambam is cooing, _internally_ , mind you, when Youngjae accidentally bumps against the bookcase (despite everything, he’s an angel who can’t do Bambam wrong. Well, sometimes he does, but, this? From Youngjae? On purpose? _Never_ ) and makes some of the books fall and consequently brings attention to them.

Bambam and his-soon-to-be-husband’s gazes meet for the briefest moment before another kid intrudes with an embrace, but that’s all it takes for him.

He grips Youngjae’s arm tight.

“I— _am_ in love.”

—————

When he needs advice, he asks his best friend.

“Me?” Yugyeom wonders with a grin.

 _Pft_. Bambam doesn’t spare him a glance. He opens his laptop, and types the question on _Google_. In the background he can hear Yugyeom snort.

Approximately 14 thousand correlated pages load, but he just clicks on the one with the most promising title and starts his research.

He’s making a mental list when from behind him Yugyeom reads aloud, in horror, from the monitor,

“3. Dazzle with conversation. We employ the art of curiosity. Ask him about why he loves doing what he does. When you ask why _they’reblahblahassumingtheyhavemore_ depth than a goldfish— _what is that_.”

“Hush.” Bambam tells him quickly.

He has to finish this before he can focus on something else.

Once he’s done reading all the tips, he looks up at his friend who’s unsurprisingly judging him with the intensity of a million suns.

“What,” Yugyeom starts, “is that?”

Bambam sighs theatrically. “This, my dear, is a plan of attack on how to meet your brother-in-law.”

“Huh.” Yugyeom blinks. Then, he schools his expression. Tilting his head in thought, he muses, “Youngjae texted me something about you gushing over a guy you met at the library.” A pause. “Did you really go to the library?”

Bambam blinks back at him, slowly. In affront.

“Which is between us: A) in need of a miracle to pass his tomorrow test and B) can afford to slack off because his behavior won’t affect his grades anyways?”

Yugyeom rolls his eyes.

Bambam ignores it in favor of asking, “seriously, though, why do _they_ think we’re stupid?” He adds. “You—I can understand,” an index pokes hard against his rib-cage making him wince, “but me?” How dare they.

“They don’t think we’re stupid,” Yugyeom reasons, but it’s weak, “they’re older, our moms asked Jaebum hyung to look after us and Jinyoung likes mother henning people.”

Bambam deadpans. “Don’t tell me you like how they treat us.”

“Like baby brothers?” Yugyeom supplies and just shrugs at Bambam making a face for using the word ‘baby’. “Like is a big word. It’s okay. Sometimes, yes, it’s too much, but, like, you have to understand. They were worried— _I_ was worried—because you hadn’t been going out at all for a month—”

“It was the last Avenger movie!” Bambam yells. Why do these people don’t get the importance of Endgame? He had to get himself mentally prepared to watch the final installment. After ten years of religious waiting, watching every photo, trailer, etcetera, he was allowed to mourn the loss of all that after seeing the premiere.

“And then, I had to get ready for the Game of Thrones.”

Yugyeom just grimaces. _Whatever_.

“But why the library of all places?” Bambam presses on because he’s trying to prove his point. “It could be a café place. Starbucks. Or just out in general. Heck, window shopping. Or shopping, because you know me, I like shopping. But Jaebum hyung picked a library.” He gives Yugyeom a look and then he taps the side of his head. “Think about that.”

“It’s because it’s convenient for Youngjae hyung and for you,” Yugyeom answers. When he meets a raised brow, he explains, “hyung literally spends more time in the library than at his dorm and since you like reading comics—”

“—and manga,” Bambam chirps.

Yugyeom sighs in exasperation, but there’s a fondness in his voice when he re-assumes talking, “yeah and manga, they thought you might find reading some fantasy books or something interesting. Develop a new hobby maybe.”

“But I like seeing images,” Bambam mumbles.

Yugyeom throws himself on the bed. “There are books with images—”

“Those are for kids.”

“So, who’s the lucky guy?”

Bambam knows his friend is changing the subject because he doesn’t want to hear any more whines, but he caves in happily, finding himself unable to suppress a grin at the mere memory of those eyes.

“He’s perfect, Yugyeom.”

Yugyeom laughs, probably at Bambam and at how ridiculous he looks and sounds right now, but it doesn’t matter. “What’s his name?”

“Jackson.”

Yugyeom waits. He teases, “huh, just Jackson? Like Eminem?”

“Ha fucking ha,” Bambam counters. “Not for long.” He turns back at his laptop, remembering that he should be working right now. Just wait. He will have a surname. Heck, he’ll be able to tell every little info about his soon-to-be-husband.

—————

He would be able to tell every little info about his soon-to-be-husband if not for one fact, and that’s him being a coward.

It’s shocking because Bambam didn’t peg himself as a chicken, but he must be, because the day after he walks into the library with Youngjae, lets him video-call Jaebum, gives Jaebum the finger, takes his vintage Dior off and slides them into the single pocket of his green grass shirt, struts over the kid’s section with the confidence of a man who owns the whole world only to lose it the moment Jackson swaggers past him to reach the chair. At its feet kids and adults are already gathering.

He feels his throat literally go dry as he smells and recognizes the cologne Jackson uses. Gucci Guilty Eau pour homme. He knows because he has it too.

Bambam’s heart does a thing it really only did when he finally met Chris Evans at a convention and forced himself not to faint after shaking hands with him.

Jackson starts high-fiving kids with his right hand before taking his seat, a book is tucked under his left arm. He scans around him once he and everyone else are settled, and it happens again.

He and Bambam look at each other for who knows how many seconds, before Bambam feels like he’s dying because he’s literally stopped breathing and when his lungs are functioning again, he doesn’t know _why_ but he does a semi-pirouette and _dives_ behind a bookcase to hide himself.

“Oh, my,” a mother with a child gasps when she sees him.

Bambam sheepishly forces himself to give them an apologetic smile.

—————

It, well, doesn’t get better.

At all.

Bambam reads many many blogs and articles. He even goes as far as watching some videos on Youtube on how to approach the love of his life, and even talks to himself in the mirror everyday, giving himself long talks that makes him feel invincible but they all get thrown under the bus once Jackson is near.

So, he—you will not believe it, but he just stays in the Winnie-the-Pooh section with the two removed books and listen and look at Jackson from there.

Youngjae finds it amusing.

On the fifth day, Bambam is bickering with a girl who wants to take the book next to the removed ones and he can’t let that happen because if she does the visible space is going to be too big and Jackson might notice him and what’s Bambam going to say then?

The girl, who’s no more than five years old, he believes, then starts critiquing Bambam’s choice of clothing out of the blue. In particular the satin shirt with leopard spots. She calls him, “oppa with a funny looking shirt.”

Bambam is having none of it.

He’s about to bombard her with his fashion knowledge when Youngjae intervenes and gives the kid the book and then just takes a book from another author to fill the vacant area before Bambam could say anything.

Which—okay, Bambam didn’t think about that.

“Really?” Youngjae questions him afterwards.

“She started it,” Bambam counters.

Youngjae looks at him in exasperation, seemingly about to say something else before he whispers instead, “I thought you were going to talk to _him_?”

“I,” Bambam starts with a frown, “—will.”

Youngjae nods. “When?”

“When he’s free.”

Youngjae eyeballs him. “He’ll be free after reading that book,” he points out and for some kind of sick fate, they hear claps right after he finishes that sentence. He gives expectant eyes at Bambam who feels himself go weak just by glancing at Jackson and seeing that he’s wearing a dark turtleneck. Damn. That’s sexy. Paired with those jeans—

“Well?”

Bambam wheezes. “He’s always so in a hurry,” he blurts out as they see Jackson linger as usual to talk with the children and tell them goodbye, “I don’t think it’s the right time, you know, and—”

“Ah, okay.” Youngjae cuts him off.

Bambam, ready with more lame excuses, blinks in surprise. “Okay,” he repeats slowly. “Yes, okay.”

A smile blossoms on his face as he wins this round.

————

He’s smart, right? So he knows that there’s not going to be any marriage if he keeps this up. Like, it’s not happening, no, niente, nada de nada, no matter how much he intensely wishes he could just stare Jackson into marrying him from the distance.

Google and Yugyeom say that Bambam should try to talk to him, but he doesn’t know if he can handle that.

He thinks that he should get used to so much handsomeness up close first. Then, maybe one day he’ll be ready to actually have a conversation with Jackson.

Baby steps.

Speaking of babies, a week and half into going there and only minor incidents (for example, on Tuesday the most talkative three-year-old boy sits at Bambam’s feet and starts asking Bambam questions and then talks and talks and talks in this high-pitched voice until his mom collects him and they leave Bambam with the hugest headache ever) he A) thinks he finally has gathered enough courage to be near Jackson and not put himself into embarrassing moments again and B) finds a way to do that.

To accomplish that, he needs help, though.

Mark doesn’t look very enthusiastic to see him at the door of his house. Could be because it’s seven thirty in the morning, but whatever. Neither does he look thrilled as Bambam is after the latter explains to him the situation.

He actually looks a mix of confused and horrified. “What do you mean?”

“Can you lend him to me for an hour or two?” Bambam says again, this time slower.

Mark’s expression morphs into a constipated one. “You want to babysit Joey?”

“Yes.”

“And bring him to the library. Because there’s this guy who reads to kids.”

“Yes,” Bambam says, “You need to study and I promise I will take care of him. We’ll just sit down, listen to the story for an hour, he’ll have lots of fun, and then I’ll walk him back home. We can stop at the ice cream place so you can have more time to study if you want.”

“I don’t know—” Mark scratches at his hair, very unsure.

Bambam has predicted that this would happen, so without batting an eye, he drawls, “okay, name a price.”

Mark scowls.

“Twenty?”

“What?”

Bambam squints, trying to read if there's any difference in the other’s features. “Twenty-five?”

“Bambam.”

“Thirty?” He bids, but he’s met with a deadpanned look. “Thirty-five?”

Mark sighs. “Look, I don’t want your money and—”

“I’ll give you sixty-five bucks.”

“—I’m sure Joey will enjoy himself. He’s always liked listening to stories.” Mark informs him with a shark eating grin while he proffers his hand for a handshake.

————

Youngjae doesn’t have any queries as he sees Bambam arrive holding Joey’s hand, and Bambam, for his part, doesn’t tell him what his game plan for today is (which is super simple, but what if he jinxes it by saying it aloud? Can’t risk it).

The three of them walk inside the building and before going to their different, huh, paths, he instructs Youngjae not to include Joey in the camera frame because the last thing he needs is Jaebum picking up that something’s happening and rushing here to ruin everything—Bambam’s ploy, mood, life, and everything else as usual.

Once done, Bambam guides the boy to the reading area where a few children are chatting animatedly to each other. He’s thinking about asking Joey if he wants to make friends, but the kid just sits on the carpet and waits, legs sprawled and wiggling his feet.

He recalls the last time he has seen Mark’s little brother he was an angel, but he was also just half Bambam’s leg tall. Yes, he’s aware that some kids have spurt growths, but Joey’s like one of the tallest four year old he’s ever seen in his life. Maybe second only to Yugyeom who was called the baby giant in their kinder class because he was freaking big.

Which is the reason why when the other children start sitting down in front of them, he lets them, since, even with three rows of kids before him, Joey’s head still hovers on theirs.

Jackson arrives not long after, wearing a sleeveless shirt and black Nike pants with the logo on the front. He’s got a silver necklace, Bambam notices, and a silver bracelet too. And a small earring of the same material.

Bambam didn’t know Jackson had his ear pierced, but it could be because he couldn’t see it from his angle.

His heart feels like it’s jumped in his throat when they make eye contact.

Jackson looks like he’s surprised to see him there. Maybe even amused. Yeah, the guy who has been staring at you like a creeper is finally out in the lights. His eyes then flicker down on Joey, up to Bambam and then down again at Joey.

And he _smirks_. At Bambam. Before taking his round chair, making himself comfortable, and start reading Goldilocks or whatever.

It ended in a flash, but Bambam can already hear the Church bells and the vows. He has to resist the urge to shake Joey, or start clapping like a drugged seal, or hit anyone—it’s what he does when he’s too excited/laughing, don’t mind him.

He spends the entire hour either listening attentively to his guy’s raspy voice animatedly explaining how the little Goldilocks trespassed someone’s property—bears’ houses, not really a bright girl that golden locks huh—or starting to day dream about the future.

Three stories later, it’s over.

Bambam asks Joey if he wants to hug Jackson too like the other kids are doing, or high five him or anything really, but Joey just replies that he wants vanilla ice cream with caramel on top and Bambam sighs.

————

But.

Yes, there’s a but and it’s a good but.

That same night while Bambam is visiting the library’s site—it’s an almost empty page that he’s begun visiting daily. There’s nothing written except for some contact mails, but he still hopes to magically find Jackson’s number in there, maybe?—he gets a text from Mark saying that Joey really liked going to the library and that he asked his mom and she’s okay with him going with Bambam so if Bambam wants he can babysit Joey for free.

Mark really texted him: “you can babysit Joey for free if you want.”

Weirdest part is that Bambam victory punches the air in excitement.

————

He receives a flirty raise of eyebrows (or at least he thinks/wishes/hopes/whatever, that it’s an attempt at flirting) that has Bambam this close to fanning himself with his hand).

————

The day after that, Jackson asks Joey,

“did you like the story?”

Bambam wants to shoot back, “do you want to go get hitched?” because Jackson’s in another turtleneck and it is making him go insane, but, fortunately, Joey beats him to it by saying,

“I did.”

Jackson smiles. “That’s great.” He looks at Bambam, points at him still with his smile, and asks Joey, “he your brother?”

Bambam’s Spiderman senses goes off, anticipating a bad thing to happen.

Before he can react, Joey is already shaking his head and replying.

“Mark hyung said he’s hiring me—” and Bambam gasps because that’s the worst. He puts his hands on Joey’s shoulder stopping him from continuing his sentence.

At this point Jackson is looking at them strangely. “Hiring?”

“I’m babysitting him!” Bambam cries desperately. “I’m his brother’s friend and I’m babysitting him.”

Jackson doesn’t look convinced and Bambam will actually start sobbing if this goes on so when Joey chirps that he wants strawberry ice cream with chocolate today Bambam agrees, and turns his back at Jackson, but not before stressing out,

“yes, let’s have ice cream and then you’ll go back home to your brother, Mark _Tuan._ I already contacted him on _Messenger,_ ” so that if Jackson still doesn’t believe him, he can prove that he’s no liar.

What the heck. Hiring. That was only for one day. Now he's doing _them_ a _favor_ , kind of, but still, Mark is terrible.

————

Bambam doesn’t get contacted about a sexy person asking if he stole Joey or something, so he’s a bit relieved.

However, he decides that maybe for now it will be better to just stay home. Three weeks have passed already anyways. He stays in bed and, for a change, opens his books because he needs to have his mind preoccupied with other things.

He goes out on Saturday to the Michelin restaurant.

Usually, just the image of Jaebum’s face paying an expensive dinner would make him grin like a mad man, but he finds himself sighing all the time because he misses seeing Jackson, but on the other hand he needs more time to pass before he can step into the library again.

Jinyoung notices his strange behavior. He asks, “is everything alright?”

Youngjae knows what’s happening, but, bless him, he remains silent.

Bambam doesn’t reply, just twirls his fork around the spaghetti which are definitely overpriced because he can literally eat this amount of pasta in one bite. Who does get full with, what, 20 grams? The heck. And they’re good, but not 90 bucks good, you know. Or perhaps he’s just too low-spirited that his papillae are not tasting food properly.

“What’s wrong, Bambam?” Jinyoung says, concerned. “What is it? Tell hyung. Are you feeling sick? Sad? Is it ‘I love you 3000’ again?”

Oh, God. It’s _not ‘_ I love you 3000’, but now Bambam has been reminded of it.

He _now_ gets sad, his eyes swell, and instinctively he’s about to wipe the upcoming tears with the pocket handkerchief he has in his blazer, but no, it’s Armani.

————

Mark, the traitor, visits him with Yugyeom and Youngjae the next week. He laughs so much his stomach hurts when Bambam tells them in detail what happened that day with Joey.

Yugyeom finds it hilarious too and Bambam launches on him with a pillow and starts smothering him with it.

“Just ask Jackson out,” Youngjae tells Bambam once he’s calmed down.

“You have to,” Yugyeom points out, his hair sticking in all various directions, “kind of hard to marry a guy you haven’t even talked with properly.”

Bambam huffs irritably.

“Let him go at his own pace,” Mark says, “after _that_ I would let pass at least, I don’t know, two weeks before marching up to the library.” While he appreciates the first comment, Bambam still kind of wants to strangle him, given that it’s Mark’s fault he’s here in his room instead of making heart eyes at his husband to be.

“It’s been a month and half already, Bambam,” Youngjae informs him like the other wasn’t keeping track of the time. It’s only been a month and 8 days, for anyone’s info. “Are you going to wait another month? Holidays are coming at the end of April. Jackson doesn’t read to kids after that.”

Bambam turns his head so fast he’s surprised his neck doesn’t snap, but even if it did he doubts he’d care because,

“what?”

Youngjae shrugs one shoulder. “Maybe he concentrates on school after Easter, who knows.”

That’s not good. What if, by some chances, Jackson doesn’t come back ever? Bambam’s tuxedo is already waiting in his shopping cart.

“Do you know where he goes to school?”

Youngjae gives him a pointed look. “No. I just know he reads to kids, nothing more. Told you.”

Mark is saying, “I’m sure he goes to one of the nearby colleges. Why would he—” but Bambam doesn’t hear what comes next because he can’t lose Jackson he-doesn’t-know-what-his-surname-is-yet-and-he-needs-to-know-because-that-is-going-to-be-his-too-soon.

————

4 days, 22 movies, 75 pep talks in the mirror, an indefinite number of manga, Naruto defeating and befriending Gaara, Vegeta becoming a super Saiyan, TV series and a whole wardrobe put upside down later, Bambam inhales deeply as he finally steps out of the dorm.

He feels compelled to tell himself that he looks perfect, impeccable, and that he’ll succeed. There is no way he can’t. He consulted his horoscope before leaving and it showed, like, 4.5 hearts out of 5. Not that he believes in them, but he might start if it turns out to be correct. He can relax, it will be okay.

Youngjae is a the front of the library, waiting for him. He came to give emotional support which makes him the best (Yugyeom, the bastard, would never).

“Hey, you look good in a penguin suit,” he says.

Bambam licks his lips. “Thanks,” he responds. He doesn’t know what to do with his sweating hands, so he just slips them in the pockets of his black pants. Okay, he can’t calm down.

But that’s reasonable, right? He’s going to talk to Jackson. Of course, he’s a bundle of nerves.

They go inside.

Waiting by the chair of the reading area would attract too many people, and while he doesn’t mind attention on other circumstances, Bambam prefers to stay a couple of meters from the sliding glass doors. This way he can interject Jackson when he arrives.

He tries to distract himself, but his eyes automatically look up when he hears the doors move.

Youngjae is picking up some books next to him.

Bambam looks at his watch. Only three minutes have passed. What the heck?

Five minutes.

Fives minutes and twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four—

He’s concentrated counting seconds, that he doesn’t turn when someone steps inside.

“Bambam?”

Bambam freezes. No. He recognizes that voice. No, no, no. Not today, Satan. Please, Satan. What the heck, Satan.

But there are no mistakes. Unfortunately, he’s right, and Lim Jaebum himself is walking towards him, Jinyoung tailing after as if one of them wasn’t bad enough. Their heads go up and down, slowly taking in Bambam’s outfit.

“Do you—,” Jinyoung trails off, “—have an interview?”

At the same time, Jaebum blurts out, “what the hell are you wearing?”

Bambam splutters in indignation. He demands, “what are _you_ doing here?”

“Huh, hi, hyung,” Youngjae greets them awkwardly.

“We’re here to borrow a textbook,” Jaebum explains, totally ignoring the latter, in favor of inquiring Bambam further, “and you? Why are you still here?” He waves at Bambam. “Wearing that.” Yeah, because trust him not to appreciate one of the most elegant two piece Versace when he sees one.

Bambam rolls his eyes. He’s cursing the—stars? Their predicament is faulty, and he’ll write a long letter of complain. And—

And, well, these people are so going to get sued by Bambam. He won’t let them get away with playing with others’ hope and heart like this.

It’s then, when Jaebum is still making comments about Bambam’s clothes that Jackson comes in.

Bambam tries to keep the smitten to a minimum, but Jackson has a shirt too today with a very known pattern to him. Burberry. His guy really have excellent tastes.

All of a sudden the sky is blue above them, not a single cloud visible, the sun is shining, Youngjae is giving him an encouraging thumb up and filming everything with his phone, _huh_ , and bells can be heard.

“Would you like to take Kunpimook as your husband?” 

Jackson smiles at Bambam, and the bells intensify. Instead of the, ‘yes, I do’, though, he’s turning his head where Jaebum is and says,

“hey, hyung.”

Bambam snaps out of his reverie immediately. “ _You know him_?” Those weren’t the words he wanted to say to Jackson, but he’s overcome by a sudden shock.

Jackson nods. “We’re cousins?”

“What, no.” Bambam looks at Jaebum, internally praying for him to say that this is all a joke, but no.

“Uhm, yes,” Jaebum confirms.

Have you ever had one of those moments alla That’s so Raven? When a certain thing happens, and you just, like, snap your head on another direction and your eyes go round and big and you see the future? Picture Bambam doing that.

He sees the ceremony terminate with himself becoming Lim Kunpimook—that’s his real name, by the way, but it’s not important. Bambam is sobbing because his name now sucks, but Jackson is right next to him and he’s so handsome and perfect that he finds himself saying that it doesn’t matter. Fast forward to years later, they are living in a nice apartment, they have a dog named Priscilla and a cat named Bulldozer. It’s all cute, except that Jackson is then holding a baby, and when the baby turns he looks like _Jaebum_.

Worse, when Bambam tries to take him, the baby starts lecturing him and criticizing him and oh, my god. This is a nightmare. A dark nightmare, the kind that no amount of therapy will ever be able to erase from his memory.

It’s a nightmare until Jackson takes the baby and scolds him, says not to treat Bambam, his daddy, like that and the baby Jaebum looks stubborn, but then retaliates and says he’s sorry and everything is okay again. Even though Jaebum as a baby, his baby, is still a horrifying nightmare.

However, Bambam has decided: he doesn’t care how many obstacles there will be in the way. Jackson is the best and only match for him. As long as he has Jackson by his side, he’ll be happy.

“The wedding will go on.” Bambam pronounces.

Jackson doesn’t smile at him, though. He’s watching his hands that are wrapped in Bambam’s (don’t ask, Bambam has no idea when did this happen), and then up to meet his gaze. He’s tilting his head, and asking,

“huh?”

The realization comes five seconds later.

Bambam does the same exact actions: watch his hands that have Jackson’s wrapped in them, look up to meet Jackson’s eyes.

He has a full minute in which he’s petrified.

Then, as if electrocuted, he cuts the touching and he literally _runs away_. Screaming. While the librarian—her name’s Soyoung, she’s a nice lady when she’s not in a mood—and several people shh after him.

————

He recovers.

Not long time after _that_ , he recovers.

It takes an hour for the panic to die down. Another to go to the ice cream parlor and to tell himself that his baby (or babies, who knows) won’t look like Jaebum—and if they do, they won’t take after Jaebum’s personality—and that he/she (they) won’t be beautiful, but more.

Baby will have Jackson’s facial features, his expressive eyes and cute small nose, but Bambam’s legs because his are definitely longer than Jackson’s. Look, there’s nothing wrong with being on the shorter side, Jackson exudes prime Alpha vibes even when he is a couple of cm shorter than Bambam.

It’s okay their baby will have Jackson’s arms. Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous.

Bambam then takes an hour and half to elaborate another plan to make up for the total fiasco with his fiance and the future father of his imaginary babies.

He should act as soon as possible.

Tomorrow.

————

No matter how many times he listens to every Avenger’s words of encouragement, Bambam just can’t do it. He’s sporting a three piece, but even with it, he finds himself back to the Winnie-the-pooh section.

It’s just that—well, how can he undo yesterday?

Sighing, he absentmindedly removes the usual two books.

And then falls down shrieking as he sees a hand he was not expecting coming out of from the other part. It’s of the librarian Soyoung’s helper who’s staring back at him with an equally scared face.

Bambam is pressing a palm on his chest. He closes his eyes.

When he opens them, Youngjae, Jaebum and _Jackson_ are there with him, and _Jackson_ is helping him up. He’s kind of suppressing himself from laughing, Bambam can tell. Must be because he saw the small screaming competition Bambam had had with the librarian’s helper.

It’s kind of an assholish thing to do, but he’ll let it slide. Only because it’s Jackson, though.

More, because it’s Jackson and Bambam is pathetic underneath the expensive clothes and accessories, he first squawks and second tells Jackson that,

“Y-you're handsome”.

Jaebum snorts. Youngjae grins—see? This is the difference between a bad and a good friend.

“Well, thanks,” Jackson replies in a heartbeat with a sly smirk. Then, "hey, so you want to take a coffee later?"

Someone hold him because he's about to faint. "Yes," Bambam answers. Softly. Forgive him for not showing enough enthusiasm, but he's out of breath.

"Great!" Youngjae says for the both of them. He's beaming as he pats Bambam on the back. Telling Jackson to go read to kids and that they will be just around the corner having breakfast (and yes, that's when Bambam's stomach grumbles at the promise of food).

"Sure," Jackson agrees. He winks at Bambam. "Later!"

A beach wedding. They don't have to wear the traditional white. Bambam will be in peach, maybe? Jackson in whatever he wants because he'll look good anyways. What a wonderful world will be their first dance song.

"See you later."

————

Let's wrap this around, shall we?

They see each other, yes, but not before Bambam finding out that his supposedly friends had a bet on him.

There were 120 bucks on how long it would take him to make a move after the Joey incident. Who were involved in this act of betrayal? None other than Mark and, surprise, surprise, actually a big surprise, Youngjae.

Like, Bambam’s level of trust for the guy jumped from the sky to Yugyeom’s intelligence. He’s so disappointed. And even if Youngjae has promised to buy him the Infinity Gauntlet, he’ll never return to being his pure angelic friend.

Onto the first date (if you can call it that even if two of Bambam’s not so friends are present).

Jackson—who will forever be Bambam’s fiancé first and Jaebum’s cousin second—says that Youngjae had already _warned_ him about him catching the interest of an extravagant guy who he’ll be able to spot immediately given that he was wearing some fashion terror (Bambam will never forget this. Youngjae, how could you).

“I didn’t want to have anything to do with you at the beginning,” Jackson admits, abashed, and ouch, ouch, ouch, why did he even think of saying that? Bambam understands, because he too would be kind of turned off by _that_ , but Jackson could have kept that for himself, couldn’t he? Besides, yeah, okay, weirdo hiding behind the kids’ bookcase, sure, but he’s a man with plenty of—of beauty. Isn’t he? “But then I liked how you tried to get my attention.”

Not really exactly what happened, but Bambam didn’t correct him.

More, Jackson says he found absolutely adorable how Bambam would mentally blackout every time they meet, and while he has yet to find if Bambam stole someone’s child (“I was babysitting!” and Jaebum: “he WHAT?”), given that he was shy, it undoubtedly took Bambam time and guts to do that.

“You could have just sat down with the children, though,” Jackson says playfully, “it wouldn’t be the first time someone did that.”

Jaebum grimaces at that and Bambam takes full offense on Jackson’s behalf, and shoots his not-quite-friend a glare.

Luckily, he and Youngjae decide to leave, so Bambam and Jackson can spend some time with each other.

It goes well. Yeah, if we don’t count the fact that Bambam snorts water through his nose when Jackson out of the blue opens his mouth to reveal another piercing and asks if Bambam wants to try it?

Just. Too much. For now.

After that, they meet again, and again, and again until Jackson finally becomes Bambam’s official boyfriend—marriage will come, don’t worry. Give it some years. He still needs to perfect everything for the ceremony anyways. And still have to decide who will be invited or not. Jackson is making him inclined to consider Jaebum’s presence, but there are conditions.

It turns out that the Jackson in his head is not very similar to the Jackson in reality.

You see, real Jackson is kind of a crackhead (there’s no other way to put it), he’s kind of bossy like his cousin too, but he’s also caring and really really handsome, even when he’s not wearing designer clothes. And he's a Wang, thank God.

The not so beautiful part of all this is that he does _make sure_ Bambam _studies_ for his exams, meaning that he has to put his geeking aside. It hurts him deeply, but Jackson’s mouth is definitely more important. Yes, even more than a Marvel re-run.

Speaking of the movies, he gets them. Jackson gets them. He’s a fan too. Although he’s all rational about _his_ favorite character’s death (yeah, in Civil War, they always have discussions because Jackson’s on the other team and pft. Yes, Robert Downey Jr is hot, but _Chris Evans_ ) while Bambam is always always a crying mess, Jackson circles an arm around him and just lets Bambam bawl.

Plus, to cheer Bambam up he tells him embarrassing stories about Jaebum. Best boyfriend and fiancé ever.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always highly appreciated. Thank you!


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